Page 40 of Beautiful Trauma
He glared back at me. “It is when it could’ve potentially compromised our mission.”
With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “You’re just pissed I deviated from your precious plan, and it was still a success.”
“I’m pissed because you let your emotions get the better of you. Or I suppose I should say yoururges.”
“Bullshit!”
“It’s the truth.”
Shaking my head, I countered, “Let’s get to the real reason why you’re making an issue out of this.”
“Because you could’ve fucked things up royally?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I cocked my brows at him. “Because I’m a woman.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” he grunted as he poured himself a shot of vodka from the bar.
“Spare me. If the tables were turned and one of you had fucked a target, you’d be slapping each other’s backs and asking for details.”
“I’m totally down for details,” Aleks replied while wagging his brows.
While Dima growled under his breath, I shot Aleks a wicked grin. “His dick is pierced, which hits in all the right places.”
“Like a Jacob’s Ladder?”
“Absolutely.”
With a chuckle, he shook his head. “The quiet ones are always freaks.”
“I told him the same thing.”
Dima’s response to our conversation was to take another shot of vodka.
I jabbed a finger at him. “For years, I’ve been trotted out to use my sexuality for our family’s gain, and you never had a problem. But when I decide to be in control, you have a problem.”
“She has a point, D,” Aleks mused.
Dima narrowed his eyes. “For both of our sakes, I will not tell Father about this.”
“Don’t act all heroic like you’re sparing my feelings. I don’t give a shit what he thinks.”
With the veins in his neck bulging, Dima shouted, “And that’s going to get you killed one day!”
His declaration caused a shudder of both fear and revulsion to run through me. A strained silence blanketed the room. After a few seconds had passed, I cleared my throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve had enough of this conversation.”
Without another word to either of them, I stalked over to the bedroom. After slamming the door shut, I hurried into thebathroom. Once I’d closed and locked myself inside, I pitched forward, banging against the sink.
As a sob tore loose from my lips, I turned on the water to try and drown out the sound. If I couldn’t let my brothers see the cracks in the facade, I sure as hell couldn’t let them hear me.
CHAPTER TEN: KELLAN
Ifloated along in a dreamy consciousness. As I came more awake, someone was smacking my cheek. An image of the dark-haired goddess I’d been fucking floated into my mind.
“Not those cheeks,” I teasingly replied.
“Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph, is he having some sort of sex dream?” a faraway voice questioned.
“Considering his cock is at half-mast, I’d say yes,” someone replied.
